Chapter 3 - The Lumos Continent is Not Korea
I couldn't breathe, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air.
The goddess's aura was more overwhelming than the truck that had hit me.
My entire body was already soaked in sweat, and my eyes stung.
It wouldn't have been strange if my eyes or brain had burst on the spot.
But I couldn't back down.
I was about to be sold off to some unknown land.
Even if I was going to die, I had to at least struggle first.
"What will you do? Will you just kill this poor hero? Or will you place your hope in me?"
"...You are a rather interesting human. To maintain a calm rationality while knowing fear. And on top of that, that endlessly faint presence."
The goddess seemed to be lost in her own reminiscence.
Her gaze was sickeningly sentimental.
"Yes. Perhaps this world needs a unique existence like you. Therefore, I wish to give you an 'opportunity.'"
"What kind of opportunity?"
"Let's just call it a chance to obtain a fateful encounter. Find the darkest tavern in Shita Castle. If your talent is truly valuable, you may be able to obtain a power that no other being possesses."
"Is that all?"
"Even this much severely damages the law of causality. The information I have given you will change the landscape of the continent."
Ruin waved her hand.
"Now, O peculiar human from another world. The time has come. The time for you to go."
"Wait a moment. You have to at least tell me what that information means."
"You will find out. If you are worthy of it."
The goddess gestured at me as if shooing away a bothersome piece of luggage.
"You will get a head start on everyone else. But do not reveal yourself too much. The spear of causality spares no one..."
Another flash of light.
I was submerged in a hazy glow.
"Ugh..."
When I emerged from the halo of light, what greeted me was a completely unfamiliar land.
Not asphalt or cement, but a floor of dirt and stone.
A place with nothing but brick houses shabbier than even the simplest cottage, let alone an apartment.
That wasn't the only difference.
The strong scent of the forest and the clear, high sky.
A land with no noise or exhaust fumes from passing cars was certainly different from Korea.
"Where is this..."
"It doesn't seem like Korea, does it?"
"Definitely not."
"No matter how rural you get, there's no place as strange as this."
"The same goes for anywhere overseas."
They were kids who were resurrected and thrown into another world before they could even get used to the fact that they had died.
Just as they began to walk forward, half in fear and half in excitement at the unfamiliar scenery unfolding before them, a figure appeared.
"Ooh, everyone. I have been waiting for you."
A man who appeared as if he had genuinely been waiting.
He was an old man with a magnificently grown, grayish beard.
His gentle impression seemed to instantly put one's mind at ease.
"I am Ronan, the elder of Lagun Village, here at the edge of the Lumos Continent. You must have many questions, I presume? About where this is, and why you are all here."
"We heard the general details from the goddess, Ruin. That the Demon King has invaded, and that only we can overcome it."
Once again, the first to step forward was Hong-seop.
"That is correct. One day, the shadow of evil suddenly fell across this entire continent..."
Elder Ronan's expression darkened in an instant.
The story he told was, in fact, incredibly grim.
The demons he spoke of were a race that fed on human fear, cast curses for fun, and even ate humans as their primary food source.
Just from the description, they were clearly a race that could not coexist with humanity.
"These demon bastards were cruel beyond measure!"
Ronan's explanation grew more and more passionate.
It made sense, as for these people, it was a story about their next-door neighbors, or friends and family from the village over.
Of course, Ronan's family wasn't my family.
I left Ronan's explanation behind and quietly slipped away from the group.
To repeat, heroes from another world had been summoned to this continent nearly a hundred times already.
But they had not been able to kill the Demon King.
While this seemed utterly hopeless, there was one fortunate aspect.
The continent had not been destroyed during the hundreds of times the heroes failed their mission.
This meant that as long as one didn't harbor the vain fighting spirit to kill the Demon King, it was possible to live here.
'To do that, I first need to find out what kind of world this is.'
Lagun Village was an ordinary village.
It was completely different from where I used to live, but it was the kind of medieval rural village I had seen countless times in games, comics, and movies.
Crude clothes stitched from leather and rickety houses built of wood or brick. There were even candles hanging by every door with large drips of wax, as if they had been used just yesterday.
'It means they don't have electricity.'
And that wasn't all. The paths in the village were built around a central well. To think a village would be structured around a well in this day and age. It meant the water supply system was a mess, too.
'Still, is this considered decent?'
If I had lived in a place like Tower Palace or a modern officetel, I would have had many complaints, but the place I lived wasn't all that different.
A neighborhood called a dal-dongne, a "moon village," because the moon felt so close.
A place where every alley was filled with cracked walls and drunken louts.
This place wasn't much different from that.
After looking around the village, I checked out the market. I was the only one wearing completely different clothes, but since my presence was so weak, no one looked at me.
The exchange rate seemed to be about 1 Cooper for 100 Won. 1,000 Cooper was 1 Silver, and 1,000 Silver was 1 Gold. This meant 1 Silver started at around 100,000 Won, and 1 Gold was 100 million Won.
It seemed Gold would be something I couldn't easily touch in this life either.
There was one other difference.
The blacksmith in the market sold weapons.
In Korea, that would have been unthinkable.
Not only would you need a license to sell weapons, but there would be no one to buy them.
Korea is a world where you can't swing a weapon around freely even if you have one.
But on the Lumos continent, a land supposedly invaded by demons, things were clearly different. The power we were given from the start and the weapons lined up everywhere. I started to feel uneasy.
'Having weapons must mean there are reasons to use them, right? To get accurate information, it would be better to go outside the village, but...'
It was a mountain path where not only were there no paved roads, but the trails themselves were not properly maintained. You weren't supposed to go to a place like that alone. The best plan was to mix in with the other kids and move when it became reasonably safe.
'For now, should I head back after this?'
***
Ronan's long-winded speech had already ended.
The kids had just arrived in another world and heard about its lore. Some were afraid, and some felt a sense of excitement.
And in the center of it all was the kid who looked like a protagonist no matter how you sliced it, Kim Hong-seop.
"We're not just university students anymore. We are heroes who have received the goddess's blessing."
It was Kim Hong-seop.
His tightly clenched fist looked bold and determined.
The kids who had been trembling with fear and those who were buzzing with excitement all focused their attention on Hong-seop.
"That's right. We're heroes! The Demon King, those bastards. I'll slice them all up."
"I've been overflowing with power for a while now! Haha!"
"B-but, no matter what, this is reality. Aren't you guys worried? This is real, where you die and it's over!"
"We won't die."
Hong-seop's calmly spoken words were filled with determination.
"We will all return safely. We have the power to do so now. I won't let anyone die."
"I think so too. We're already dead. Asking to be sent back now would just mean dying again. If that's the case, I'll fight. I'll protect this continent and take back my life."
Joo-hye, at least, judged the situation with a cool head.
However, at the root of her thoughts was the idea that 'We can do this.'
It was a way of thinking I couldn't comprehend.
The world was full of things that couldn't be achieved with willpower alone.
At times like that, what saves me is a mindset prepared for anything.
Anyway, Hong-seop did a good job of rallying the kids.
After Hong-seop and Joo-hye set the stage, Ronan added a word.
"You do not need to worry too much, heroes. The goddess has made arrangements for your path ahead. This is Lagun, at the westernmost tip of the Lumos Continent, furthest from the demonic energy. There are no demons here."
Relief spread across the faces of the worried kids.
"The only things in this vicinity are wicked goblins. While those goblins are a nuisance to us, they will not be much of a threat to you heroes who have received the goddess's blessing. Please, I implore you to bring the hammer of justice down upon those goblin bastards."
'So the reason we need weapons is because of goblins?'
I recalled the goblins I had seen in games and comics.
They were usually the very first monsters you meet, and the most pathetic of beings.
I wasn't the only one who knew this fact.
"If it's just goblins, it should be manageable, right?"
"What are goblins?"
"They're a thing. The pushover monsters that always appear first, no matter where you go."
"I heard that an average adult male can take on a goblin even without a weapon."
"And we've even received a blessing."
"This seems doable."
The kids' spirits lifted.
It was because goblins were something they knew about without needing any special knowledge.
"But they're still monsters. I've never even won a fight against a stray dog."
"We're going to die. We're definitely going to die!"
If the opponent is a goblin, it's worth a try.
Still, we're facing monsters, so we shouldn't take it lightly.
As opinions were divided, the one who stepped forward was, as expected, Hong-seop.
"Let's try fighting them once first. If it's too much for us, it won't be too late to find another way then."
Should I say it's not surprising anymore?
It was Hong-seop, always full of will and never losing his courage.
"I'll take the lead. We can't just stay like this forever, can we?"
"I'll go with you. Those goblin things, I have to at least see them from a distance. If worse comes to worst, we need to protect at least this village so we can survive."
Joo-hye was not one to be outdone by Hong-seop when it came to taking action.
Elder Ronan didn't miss the opportunity either.
"Lagun Village may be lacking, but we possess a unique smithing art. You will have an easier time if you use our weapons."
Ronan opened the warehouse. Inside the warehouse were piles of weapons similar to the ones I had seen earlier. Since no one was going to look out for me, I picked out my own weapon myself.
The weapon I chose was a dagger.
It was the weapon most suited for an assassin and wasn't ostentatious.
As it was simple, its killing power was low, but because of that, the probability of making a mistake was also low, making it perfect as a first weapon.
"Th-then I'll go too."
"I'll go as well!"
"Ugh… is everyone going? Then I'll be left all alone."
"You can just go too. If we all go together, won't it work out somehow?"
The relief that the opponent was the weakest type.
The confidence from having received the goddess's blessing.
Above all, the presence of Hong-seop and Joo-hye, who would fight at the forefront.
One by one, the kids started to volunteer.
Sigh…
To think they'd waste their own lives so easily.
I grumbled to myself but moved along with them.
The reason?
It was simple.
The fight with the goblins was a test of sorts to see if I could survive in this land.
The fact that there were monsters even in this small village meant there would be monsters wherever I went from now on.
If I couldn't fight monsters, I couldn't survive on the Lumos Continent.
If it had to be a test, it was safer where there were more people.
***
Well, at least that's what I thought until a moment ago.
Before I saw those green monsters.
"They look f*cking scary for real."
A potbelly sticking out from under stout forearms.
Disgusting eyes set without eyebrows, a large nose, and big ears.
I was vividly experiencing a real-life goblin, not one from a game.